Team Bartowski vs Chuck and the Evil Intersect
by East Coast Captain
Summary: The team has faced dangerous and vile enemies but nothing could prepare them for their most formidable enemy - Chuck himself.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Chuck whatsoever if I did, Shaw would have left the show in a pine box.

**Warning:** There will be Shate LOL! XP Its AU after Chuck´s red test and before vs American hero.

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><p><strong>Burbank, California<strong>

Chuck rubbed his eyes as the drowsiness from a fitful night of sleep wore off. Ordinarily he could survive on six good hours of shuteye, and sometimes even less. But last night he had a hard time getting to sleep. It wasn't hard to fathom the reason: Chuck had a lot on his mind. Trying to be a good spy, the stress of his Red Test, breaking up with Hannah the way he did, and trying to repair his relationship with Sarah were weighing heavily on his mind. And as if Sarah pushing him away wasn't bad enough, she seemed to find comfort in working with Daniel Shaw, an expert on the Ring, they even had begun dating a short time ago right after he broke up with Hannah. It was taking more and more effort just to get out of bed, much less keep working as the government's most important asset.

He sighed as he threw the white sheets aside, climbing to his feet and taking a look at himself in the mirror. He had bags under his eyes from all the training and even his shorter hair looked disheveled. Maybe Ellie was right; he was seeing a few funny animal shapes in it. He took a quick shower and was in his Nerd Herder within fifteen minutes listening to some program on _NPR_ while munching on an energy bar that qualified as breakfast in his book.

Chuck pulled up into the Buy More parking lot when he saw Sarah and Shaw pull up near the Orange Orange. He sighed in sadness. All of the events from these last few months weighed down on him, particularly losing Sarah to a guy built like Superman. The turmoil with the Intersect and how treated Hannah made coming here these days almost unbearable. That was the worst part because he should have known better. He never should have gone into a relationship with her. He felt useless.

Near noon that day, Chuck was sitting where he usually sits in deep thought. His iPhone vibrated. Chuck picked it up and saw Beckman was calling the team to Castle. Chuck walked down the steps of the Castle finding the team already assembled. Arriving last drew the usual looks from Casey and General Beckman: complete derision.

"Chuck, so good of you to join us," Beckman said in her usual stern voice.

"Intel has discovered a warehouse outside the city that could a front for the Ring. We believe they stored important material there, including their own intersect."

"We should investigate right away," Shaw said crisply, which generated nods from Casey and Sarah. Chuck did his best to not react in any way, but Shaw was a constant reminder of his place in life, or at least the one he was fated to occupy since receiving the Intersect.

The ride to the warehouse was uneventful as the team pulled up to the structure. It seemed quiet from the outside but inside was a whole diffferent matter. Chuck entered a darkened room at the Ring hideout. The team had split up to cover more ground, but they kept in touch through their earpieces. Sarah initially protested Chuck going all by himself but Shaw said he needed to gain experience.

Chuck found the room mostly empty and solitary, musing it was a fitting metaphor for how he felt these days. However, the laptop sitting by itself in the middle of the room caught his eye. He looked at it for a second and wondered if it contained any valuable information for bringing down The Ring.

"Guys, I found something." Chuck said.

_"We'll be right there. Don't touch anything."_ Sarah replied over his earpiece. It might have been good advice had Sarah said it five seconds earlier. But when Chuck opened the laptop, it booted itself up automatically. Chuck took a step back, but static appeared on the screen as if there was no signal.

Something was definitely up with this laptop. Suddenly, images appeared on the screen, dark and disturbing images. Chuck couldn't look away as whatever was on the laptop continued to flash and Chuck saw every one of them.

After several moments, the images stopped and the screen went blank. Chuck felt the world slip away from him, and he collapsed to the ground.

* * *

><p>"Chuck!"<p>

The lanky nerd heard the familiar and pleasant voice the darkness tinted with fear. His eyes fluttered open to see a very distraught Sarah Walker looking down at him like an angel from heaven. But the glow soon faded as he saw that piece of wood Shaw also looking down at him and Casey as well.

"Are you alright?" she asked breathlessly as she checked him all over.

"Yes, Sarah. I'm okay," he replied as he tried climbing to his feet.

"No, Chuck. Someone has to check you out," she said nervously as she put a hand on his shoulder to keep him on the ground.

Casey rolled his eyes but avoided any commentary about Sarah's 'lady feelings.' Shaw raised an eyebrow at Sarah's reaction. Sarah said she didn't love the nerd anymore, but it was apparent to Shaw that was a lie she said at the shock of seeing Chuck kill that mark on his Red Test. Sarah Walker is irrevocably in love with Charles Bartowski.

"Leave it alone, Sam!" he growled as he all but jumped off the ground and walked away from her, enraged enough where the use of the name Sam was spat out in ignominy. Sarah flinched at his reaction and stared in shock. Chuck never snapped at her before.

"Chuck, I'm worried about…"

Chuck whirled around to face her. "Why do you care? Do I look like your boyfriend or husband or something? The asset did his job," he growled as he left the room.

As he walked away, a horrible feeling washed over Chuck. He furrowed his brow as he realized what he said to Sarah. _Why did I say that?_

As he walked to the van, a flash overcame Chuck. But this wasn't a normal flash. He grabbed his head in pain.

_A floor full of corpses_

_A man colored in a grayish hue screaming but there was no sound_

_A crow with a human eyeball in its beak_

_An explosion of a downtown building killing many people_

_Vultures ripping apart a rotting carcass_

_A man aiming his gun and shooting someone between the eyes_

Chuck sat frozen for a moment until the pain ebbed before climbing into the back of the van, inelegantly slamming the doors shut.

* * *

><p>The team sat in Castle waiting for Beckman to debrief them. Sarah was very concerned withChuck. It was obvious something was wrong with him. Perhaps the Intersect was malfunctioning.<p>

Beckman came on the screen videoconference screen. "The laptop you found is encrypted so we sent it to your father for analysis, Chuck," Beckman said.

"That was good work, Chuck. Be proud."

The screen went black and Chuck instantly got up from his seat. Sarah grabbed his arm.

"Chuck, that laptop did something to you. We should have told Beckman," she said with considerable worry.

In sharp contrast, Chuck stared at her with as ice-cold of an expression as she had ever seen on him. He shook her hand off of his arm. "I think you should go back to your latest plaything, Sam."

He walked up the stairs and headed back to work, leaving Sarah to stare at him as he left. More than just being worried about how the Intersect was affecting him, Sarah felt like she was just slapped in the face by his words. She conceded things were not the status quo between them, but never had she seen such a negative reaction from him. Chuck didn't have it in his nature. At least, that's what she always believed.

There was no question in her mind something was wrong with Chuck. She intended to get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing she ever did.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author´s Note:** I would like to thank Murphy for his awesome betaing, you are an asset dude. :D

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><p>Guttural sounds could be heard throughout Castle as Chuck practiced martial arts techniques on the sparring mat. He heard noise behind him and turned to Sarah and Shaw come down to the dojo dressed in training gear. When they weren't looking, Chuck rolled his eyes at them. He threw more kicks and punches at the heavy bag.<p>

"Chuck, it's time we see how you've handled the Intersect so far." Shaw said.

Chuck raised an eyebrow. Clearly Shaw wasn't here for just basic training. _Rotten piece of wood, he just wants to impress Sarah,_Chuck thought humorously.

He turned with a fake friendly smile. "Okay Shaw, what do you have in mind?"

"Try blocking my punch."

"Okay."

Sarah stood tensely, looking at the scene. She didn't like any of this. Without more information about the laptop, she didn't know what to do except try to get through to him. She couldn't shake the fear that laptop changed him somehow.

Chuck stood back and Shaw threw the punch. It took less than a millisecond or Chuck to flash on a program that made him block Shaw's punch.

"Excellent. One more time," Shaw said.

Chuck blocked Shaw's punch again, only this time he threw a punch of his own that knocked Shaw back. The Ring expert looked at his employee with a mixture of shock and anger.

"Sorry buddy, it was a reflex," Chuck said dismissively, shrugging his shoulders as he went to the exit. He stopped, turned, and looked at Sarah and Shaw, giving Sarah a wink.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. How about we do something later on?" he replied, changing the mood of the atmosphere.

"I have paperwork to complete. Maybe some other time."

As Chuck was headed up the stairwell to the freezer entrance in the Orange Orange, he grabbed his head as a flash overtook him.

_ A man laughing hysterically before shooting himself in the head_

_A man slowly bashing his bloodied head on a blood smeared wall before falling on the floor dead_

_Thousands of skulls in a massive pile_

_A bloody heart beating on a wooden plank_

The flash receded and something came over Chuck. He didn't know what it was, but he suddenly felt quite mischievous. A grin came over his face as he walked to the parking lot and spotted Shaw's very expensive car. Chuck shook his head with a smirk, thinking the car was worth more than he would make in ten years at the Buy More. He took a brick he found near a dumpster and smashed the taillight.

_Handle this, asshole,_ Chuck thought malevolently. Besides the ticket Shaw would certainly get for a broken taillight, replacing it would cost him hundreds of dollars and would keep his Freud-influenced ride in the shop for a few days.

He threw the brick in the nearest trash can while walking whistling _The Farmer in the Dell,_ enjoying the setting sun and warm breeze on his face.

The next morning, Sarah waited for Chuck to pick her up in front of her hotel. Shaw called to tell her he would have done so but someone had broken the taillight of his car. She sighed impatiently with a cup of coffee she bought from a nearby Starbucks. Things were strained as it was, given what she suspected was wrong with Chuck, and Shaw not picking her up didn't help matters.

She heard the rumbling of something that got louder and louder. Her eyes went wide; Chuck pulled up to her on a Harley Davidson. Although the visor on his helmet was up, she recognized him through his black leather jacket and gloves.

"Chuck?" she said in shock.

"Hey Sarah," he said cheerfully, offering her a helmet. Too surprised to make further inquiries, she put the helmet on and got onto the back of the bike. To say the ride to the Buy More was something would be grossly understating it. Sarah hung onto Chuck for dear life as the bike cruised down the highway to the Buy More parking lot.

Casey waited outside the Buy More, planning to intercept the nerd when he heard the noise. He recognized everything down to the model and year of the hog from the purr of its engine, but he did a double-take when he saw Chuck was the one riding it.

Casey was actually impressed_. Who knew the nerd could ride a motorbike…or own one, for that matter,_ he thought.

"Hey, Casey. What´s up buddy?" he said the same easygoing manner he greeted Sarah.

"We have a mission." Casey said as he eyed the Harley.

* * *

><p><strong>Southern India<strong>

A day later, the team found itself in the humid jungles of India where a wanted criminal was in hiding. He was suspected of killing several diplomats, one of whom was an American. In a village within the jungle terrain, they were under aliases as indicated in their mission brief.

In a decrepit hotel not far from the village, Chuck was settling his gear in his room when he heard Sarah's voice coming down the hallway.

"Hey Chuck, I wanted to let you…"

She stopped in her tracks when she saw that Chuck was walking around with his shirt off. Her face felt flushed, and the perspiration she was already feeling from the high humidity seemed to increase. His taught muscles and rippling pecks were in perfect view. Clearly Chuck had been working out these past few months; the lanky nerd was not as lanky as used to be.

"What do you need, Sarah?" he asked as he got out a cold bottle of water and poured it all over him_. See something you like?_he thought cheekily.

_God, I have to get over him, _Sarah thought._ I'm with Shaw now. But, good Lord, he is sexy as hell._

"We're going to the town square for reconnaissance," she managed to say.

"I'll be there shortly," he said before throwing a tank top on, much to Sarah's disappointment.

That night they headed into the compound, it was poorly guarded providing the team with quick entry. The criminal was Harold Singh, this area was the ancestral home of his family so he knew the area well and the reason it was so poorly guarded. He didn't expect anyone to come for him.

They saw him eating a hearty dinner when he saw them; he dropped his fork in shock.

"You've been a bad boy. Now come quietly," Casey said with a grin he reserved only for a situation like this. Shaw moved to arrest him, but Harold pressed a button under his table alerting every guarding in the compound.

"You shouldn't have done that," Casey growled as he shot Singh with a knockout dart.

Casey took Singh over the shoulder and left the compound, heading for the chopper waiting for them in the jungle.

The mission was completed without any major incidents.

* * *

><p>Thousands of miles away, Stephen Bartowski sat at his desk, attempting to decrypt the laptop Team Bartowski had gotten from the Ring warehouse. He had to admit whoever encrypted it was very talented. He almost got the thing decrypted when he slipped on a pair of shades to protect himself from whatever the laptop had.<p>

Pressing one last key, a series of images appeared on the screen. Behind the dark shades, Stephen's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh dear God."

_It can't be. We destroyed it years ago,_he thought.

He had heard about Chuck's erratic behavior from Sarah, and he suspected it could be from the laptop. Now he had the proof, and it terrified him. His son was in grave danger from what was inside his head.

Shutting the laptop closed, he was going to destroy it as soon as he spoke to Diane. He quickly dialed Beckman's personal phone line. In a few seconds the general appeared on the monitor.

"What do we got, Stephen?" she asked sternly.

"Not good Diane. The information on that computer is not from The Ring. It's something far more disturbing," he eked out.

Diane raised an eyebrow, as it was obvious the freelance spy was terrified.

"Where's my son now?" he asked.

"On a commercial flight back home. What's wrong?" she asked. Stephen was beginning to make her nervous, and she hadn't been nervous like this since before the USSR collapsed.

"I'll explain right now," he said.

After a sixteen hour flight from India, the team had come back to Burbank. General Beckman had requested to see the team with the exception of Chuck. Chuck dismissed as another thing spies had to attend but assets could blow off. He made tracks to the Buy More.

It was noon that day when Chuck was busy over the phone with another customer who was very rude.

"Listen to me buddy, I can't fix everything every time your pervert of a son decides to crash your computer by downloading Korean porn for the millionth time!" he hissed into the phone before hanging up.

Chuck saw Sarah entering the Buy More with a smile on her face. But he had seen this smile before.

_She's trying to lure me in; Casey probably has a tranq gun at the ready. Well, Agent Walker, I'll play along. Pity that the naïve Chuck has left the building._

Brandishing his own fake smile, he walked over to her.

"Beckman wants to see you in Castle," she said.

He nodded, playing along with the ensnarement. They walked across to the Orange Orange and went to the stairwell leading downstairs. As soon as he hit the bottom step in Castle, Chuck felt a tranq gun pressed to his back. Just as he predicted, there was Casey with a tranq gun ready and Shaw looking like the rotten piece of wood that he was brandishing his sidearm.

"As I suspected, Casey with Nancy on the ready and, oh of course, Sarah's two-by-four of a boyfriend," Chuck said with a sneer, knowing Casey named his guns to distinguish them.

"Come quietly, Chuck. This is for your own good," Sarah said quietly. "Beckman told us everything that was on the laptop."

Chuck shook his head and laughed a tone Sarah had never heard from him before…and hoped she never would again.

"Oh, Sam. You think you can just smile and bat your eyelashes at me and I'll follow you around like a puppy. I had figured you out from the moment you walked into the Buy More. Well, fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, well..." he said before he willingly flashed.

Casey sensed Chuck wouldn't go quietly and opened fire. Chuck dodged every dart Casey fired with impressive speed. However, the darts didn't miss Sarah.

"Son of a…" she said before falling to the floor unconscious. Chuck stood there with a smirk on his face before turning to Casey.

"You´re losing your touch, big guy," Chuck chuckled.

"Stay still, numbnuts. That thing in your head, its going to-"

"Numbnuts. Moron, idiot, a few other unprintable names you always call me. Only you're the idiot here, Alexander." Chuck said, calling Casey by his real name.

"Tread lightly, Bartowski, or I'm going to pull out a gun that doesn't use tranq darts," Casey snarled.

"Oh, yes. Mr. Patriotic Full-of-Integrity," Chuck taunted, the bile evident in his every word. "Didn't you fake your death and leave your pregnant fiancée to raise your daughter alone, right Alexander?"

Casey breath hitched. Clearly Chuck hit a serious nerve with the caustic NSA agent.

"What would poor Alex say if she found out that her father abandoned her…and her mother? She would hate you Casey. Your own daughter would never want to have anything to do with you, her deadbeat father."

Rage contorted Casey´s features as he attacked Chuck, which was exactly what Chuck was trying to get him to do. Chuck spun and landed a perfect roundhouse kick at Casey, knocking him back. Chuck moved with lightning speed he grabbed a nearby baton and smashed Casey over and over on his face and sides, cracking several of Casey's ribs in the process. Casey began to double over in agony as Chuck leaped into the air and took him out once and for all with a spinning kick to Casey's head.

Chuck turned to see Shaw behind him. "Looks like it's just you and me, eh, Danny boy?" Chuck chuckled at the irony.

"Are you faster than a speeding bullet?" Shaw asked coldly. His gun was loaded with real bullets.

Chuck raised an amused eyebrow. "You make me laugh, Shaw. You really do. Want to know why? You see, Sarah over there still has and always will have the hots for me. You are a rebound, a distraction. You'll never be anything more than that. Truth is, the other day in the Orange Orange, we got hot and heavy before I left. Oh, but I could tell she wanted more!"

Chuck grinned malevolently as he saw Shaw lose his control and raise the gun. Chuck dropped to the ground as Shaw fired, doing the splits to avoid the bullet. Before Shaw could fire again, Chuck leaped through the air, over Shaw's head, and landed behind him. He wrapped his arm around Shaw's neck in a sleeper hold with blinding speed.

"Stop struggling, Shaw. Like the Borg say, resistance is futile."

Shaw struggled but soon found himself succumbing to the darkness.

Chuck slipped out of the Buy More when his iPhone rang. It was Morgan, who had been in Costa Rica visiting his mother's family. Chuck decided not to take it. Suddenly another flash overtook the nerd.

_ A skeleton impaled inside an Iron Maiden  
><em>_  
><em>

_ A man screaming in agony as he's ripped apart by several hungry tigers_

_ A man running for his life as a one ton boulder finally rolled over him crushing him to death_

_ Millions upon millions of rats_

As the flash ended, Chuck's eyes turned a bright violet, causing a malevolent grin to come over his face.

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3

_Sarah took a look at the equipment she was packing for their mission in India. She went through her mental checklist for the third time in the last hour. The thought crossed her mind more than once that she was too obsessive about it, but since they were getting on a plane in an hour and flying halfway around the world, she remembered it was better to over think it than to forget something important, such as the right clothing for the hot atmosphere they would encounter._

_Chuck walked into Castle sporting his patented Bartowski grin, which she found more and more irresistible with each passing day._

"_Chuck, have you packed everything?" she asked._

_He nodded. "I just wanted to do something I've wanted to do for a long while." _

_He grabbed Sarah roughly and rammed his lips onto hers. She was shocked for just a split second before giving into the kiss, her fingers sliding through his hair to grab his head roughly as Chuck began to ravage her. He stuck his tongue into her mouth, the electricity coming from his lips capable of lighting up the entire town. Sarah's mind was blank as Chuck kissed like she had never been kissed before. He groped her backside, causing her to moan in pleasure. _

_But just like he started this banter, it quickly was finished as Chuck pulled away and let Sarah go, much to Sarah's dismay._

"_We need get ready," he said calmly with a mischievous wink._

_Chuck walked away, leaving Sarah flush and her heart beating like crazy._

* * *

><p>Sarah groaned as the effects of the tranquilizer in her system began to dissipate. She opened her eyes and saw she was in a hospital.<p>

"Welcome back, Agent Walker," said Beckman, although her tone hardly conveyed relief.

"General, how long have I…" she slurred, thanks to the tranquilizer.

"Approximately twelve hours. The tranquilizer was a powerful one meant for Chuck."

"Where's Chuck?" Sarah asked as she struggled to sit up in the hospital bed.

"We don't know. Bartowski fled Castle and we've been looking for him. But right now, he has the advantage. It's like he vanished into thin air."

"What about Casey and Shaw?"

"Colonel Casey suffered a concussion and several cracked ribs, but he will be OK. Agent Shaw suffered no major injuries, although I'm sure his ego took quite the bruising, just like Colonel Casey.

"I've spoken with Chuck's father. He's currently constructing a cure program for the defective Intersect."

Sarah shivered at that thought. The defectuve Intersect was a very flawed prototype for an Intersect program they used for the Agent X Project. It was thought to have been destroyed thirty years ago, but clearly someone had resurrected it from some notes in the archives. The first and only subject to have downloaded it into his head had exhibited personality changes bordering on psychotic. Their personality was suppressed within days, and they eventually descended into outright paranoia. The Intersect fried their brain from within, death coming to the person within two weeks.

"What are we going to do, General?" Sarah asked.

"We are going to lure Chuck into the open and you, Sarah, are the bait."

Sarah shook her head as she felt more coherent. "Its not that easy, General. Chuck can predict our every move. With the Intersect, he's smarter than all of us put together. He's not that naïve guy he was when he was an asset. He will see this coming."

"Then you have to think outside the box before it's too late."

Beckman's response didn't mollify Sarah's concerns one bit. Beckman put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and her posture softened. You have to reach into him, Sarah. That Intersect may have made him unpredictable and devious on the surface, but it didn't change who he is on the inside. We both know that, and at some level, he still trusts you. He won't listen to Agent Walker, but a part of him will listen to Sarah."

Sarah nodded. She was a bit surprised to see Beckman talk the way she did, but then it wasn't the first time someone forgot Beckman was still a human being under that uniform.

Beckman left the hospital and walked to her SUV when her phone buzzed inside her pocket. She pulled it out but didn't recognize the phone number on the caller ID.

"Hi, General. How are you?" Chuck spoke in a very cheery tone that creeped Beckman out.

"How did you get this number?" Beckman was in shock.

"I've found if I put my mind to a task, I can accomplish plenty," he chuckled in a dark tone.

"You have to come in, Agent Bartowski. That thing in your head will kill you in just five days."

"That's very nice. But I discovered something rather interesting about you, General. You ordered my death two years ago. The new Intersect was ready to be released, and you decided you would toss me out like yesterday's trash. Not even a thank you for my work? In fact, Casey was in my apartment all ready to take me out! Well, I think you will agree I showed Casey my appreciation for that."

"Chuck, that was just…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It was not personal; it's just business," Chuck replied in a gravelly imitation of Vito Corleone. "I'm not mad anymore, especially since I know an even more fascinating secret about you. Dinah is a lovely lady. She looks like a younger you, only with some actual height."

Fear swelled in the decorated general's chest. How did Chuck find out about her? Beckman thought she was safe.

"You son of a bitch. If you lay a hand on her…"

"Calm yourself, General. I would never hurt an innocent person."

That didn't help things, since the last subject with the Underworld Intersect killed three of his teammates. However, Stephen Bartowski had a theory the Underworld Intersect could affect people differently based on their personality and psyche.

"But I am very impressed, General. You raised quite a child. Dinah is an Art major and she painted that spectacular mural in UCLA´s undergraduate library hall last year. Very impressive for a freshman."

Beckman felt her insides drop another ten degrees at the quiet laugh she heard from Chuck. "But the thing that really gets my curiosity is her eyes. Just like her father's eyes. Roan's eyes, correct?"

"Just leave her alone, Chuck."

"Does he know that you had his daughter twenty years ago?" he quipped.

"No." she whispered.

"Why, General? I realize hiding the truth is part of your job, but do you really have to carry that into your personal life?"

The general's hardened exterior was gone. "He was behind the Iron Curtain when I found out I was pregnant. I couldn't contact him, and by the time he came back, Dinah was three years old and calling someone else Daddy. That didn't last long so I then raised her on my own. She thinks her real father died during the Gulf War."

"I've enjoyed this discussion, General. I'll keep in touch." The line went dead.

"Son of a bitch," she cursed under breath.

Casey groaned as he sat up in the hospital room. His entire upper body was wrapped in a bandage and the doctors told him to stay in bed. Beckman had ordered him to go home and take it easy to heal from the wounds inflicted upon…Chuck. He had been beaten up many times before. But all of those times were against some of the country's best servicemen or by highly-trained individuals. Even the fight against Sarah two years ago didn't hurt his ego because she was one of the Agency's best spies. But to be beaten up by that _nerd_, even with an Intersect in him…

_Damn you, Chuck Bartowski. When I get my hands on that son of a bitch, I'm going to ring his neck._ But even through the rage, he acknowledged it wasn't the nerd's fault. It was that faulty piece of Intersect in his head that was making him so…Machiavellian.

Sarah came into his room. "How are you feeling, John?" she asked.

"Bruised, but I'll be fine," he groaned as he struggled to bend over and tie his shoelaces. A couple of Vicodin were dulling the pain but not enough.

Sarah bent down to tie his shoes. "You're lucky to be alive." John quietly groaned at Sarah tying his shoes, but he didn't protest beyond that. "Chuck isn't thinking straight. He could have killed you."

Casey shook his head. "I have to ask you something, Sarah."

Sarah looked up in surprise at Casey addressing her by her first name. "What is it?"

"Do you love Chuck?" he asked seriously.

She turned her head away. She couldn't say a word. She didn't have to.

"The way Chuck looks at you, even with that defective Intersect in him…I've seen that look from him time and time again. He could have killed me but he didn't. And he didn't even lay a finger on you. Somewhere in there, it's still Chuck. The guy you fell in love with is still there. We just have to bring him back."

Sarah looked at Casey in stunned silence. It was not something she expected to hear from an NSA assassin, but it was what she needed to hear as a friend. Both relief and sadness overcame the cold agent whose heart was warmed by that cute Nerd Herder.

"We have to get him back. He has to know that I…"

Casey put a firm hand on her. "We're gonna get him back. That I promise."

Sarah's mind was spinning. "I have…I have to talk to Shaw."

Sarah exited Casey's hospital room and headed to the hospital lobby. She found Daniel Shaw pacing back and forth.

"We have to talk," she said somberly. He furrowed his brow in concern. "After everything that's happened I…I just can't be with you anymore. You´re a good person, but it was a mistake getting involved with you in the first place. I'm sorry."

Sarah quickly left the hospital. Shaw was stunned; Sarah just broke up with him. Chuck was right; he had been nothing but a distraction for Sarah. This wasn't how he anticipated things would go.

* * *

><p>Ellie and Awesome had gone to his parents´ house for a week. Sarah had entered Casa Bartowski with her CIA-issue skeleton key. She found the apartment it empty and cold, a dire contrast to the warm and welcoming feeling it typically gave her. Whatever darkness had taken over Chuck had done the same to this home. Sarah walked to his room, where the fear and heartbreak seemed to amplify. She lay down on his bed and cried herself to sleep.<p>

She was awakened in the morning by a noise in the kitchen. She quietly walked down the hall with her custom-made Smith & Wesson at the ready. She peeked into the kitchen to find a familiar sight. Stephen Bartowski looked like a man who was trying to make the ultimate breakfast. He had eggs cooking in one pan and was flipping pancakes in another.

"Good morning, Sarah," Stephen said with a warm smile.

"Mr. Bartowski, what are you…"

"Please, call me Stephen. I figured you had a hard enough few days as it was, and the one thing I swore to myself was not to make the same mistakes twice. Especially with someone who could become my daughter-in-law."

A burst of nervous energy large enough to kickstart a car ran through her. She hadn't felt like this since she graduated from Harvard and the world was in front of her. "Your daughter…"

Stephen held up a hand. "I'm sorry for embarrassing you. It's just…I know Charles. I don't have the right to, given what I did when Eleanor and he were kids, but I know how he feels about you. Maybe that's why Beckman agreed to my plan to get Chuck back."

Sarah was stunned. "It was your idea to use me to lure him into the open?"

Stephen nodded. "He trusts you. I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but he always did. You were ready to give up everything to be with him. And I don't think that's changed."

Stephen grabbed a plate and slid several pancakes onto it from the pan. "Here you go," he said pleasantly as he placed the plate in front of Sarah. "One of the only things I can make. And if it's bad, could you at least be nice enough to lie to me?"

Sarah smiled for the first time in days. She sat at the table and reached for the syrup. She noticed the metallic briefcase on one of the other chairs and turned to Stephen.

"I've created the cure program. Everything is ready to go. It's up to you now. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sarah nodded. She was never surer about anything in her life.

* * *

><p>Shaw walked down a dim corridor in a dark suit. If the CIA knew he was here he would be either killed or sent to prison forever. He stopped when he saw the man for whom he actually worked.<p>

"I trust you're here to give us good news?" the man asked.

"The defective Intersect did not have the desired effect on Bartowski. In fact, it's made him unpredictable, dangerous, He´s everywhere and nowhere at once."

"What about Agent Walker? I trust you have her wrapped around your finger?"

Shaw shook his head. The man in the shadows gave a laugh that bordered on maniacal.

"Our organization placed too much faith in your abilities. We gave you the chance to avenge your wife's death, and you can't even keep one desperate, lonely agent under your control?

"We are not an organization that believes in giving second chances, but in this case I will make an exception."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

"We are going to make you the Ring's first human Intersect."

A smile came to Shaw's face. He liked the sound of that.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Chapter 4

The abandoned warehouse in the docks was the perfect place to trap Chuck and cure him of that defective Intersect, but they knew Chuck was smarter than they were with the combined strengths of it and the Intersect he already possessed.

A dozen or so agents guarded the perimeter waiting, it was already night the darkness falling.

"Agent Callen here, no sign of Bartowski," an agent at the northwest corner of the warehouse said.

"Agent Aguilar, no sign of him on this corner either," Aguilar called from the opposite corner.

Agent Callen saw out of the corner of his eye a dark shadow. He riddled the shadow with tranquilizer darts. He then turned on his flashlight to discover he unloaded his tranq gun into a dummy.

"Oh shit," he whispered in shock when he felt two arms circle themselves around his neck.

"Stop struggling, this will be over in a minute," Chuck said quietly.

The formidable agent was put in a sleeper hold by a mere nerd. He struggled against Chuck's grip but soon found himself slipping into the darkness as he stopped struggling. Chuck smiled at taking out a guy three inches taller and at least a hundred pounds heavier than him.

"Rest well, dream of large women," Chuck said with a laugh before entering the large warehouse.

Casey was perched on top of a Blockbuster fifty yards away, his sniper rifle at the ready. He was ready to help the nerd despite taking a double dosage of Vicodin a short time ago. He knew he should have been back home in his recliner watching the Ronald Reagan special on the History Channel tonight, but he refused to shirk his duties.

Inside the Intersect room, Shaw watched Sarah pace around. She desperately wanted her nerd back, but Shaw had other plans. Once they got the Intersect out of Chuck, Shaw would make Sarah watch as he took away the only thing she truly loved, just like she took away his beloved Eve.

"Agent Walker, we just saw Chuck Bartowski enter the building," Sarah heard over her earpiece.

Sarah nodded and readied herself. The program Stephen Bartowski created to counter Chuck's defective Intersect had been uploaded into the room they had prepared for this occasion.

"I spy some lumber, Shaw," Chuck's voice came closer before he appeared out a corner. "Or at least a really stiff two-by-four." He was dressed in a tank top and blue jeans with a pair of shades covering his eyes.

"Chuck, come with us. We need to cure you," Shaw said.

The Nerd Herder laughed like everything was a joke. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and shook his head. Chuck could not believe the audacity of Shaw still lying through his teeth.

"Shaw, I like you, man. Well, actually, I don't like you, but at least you're a better liar than Sam or Casey, who is no doubt listening to us, perched on top of that Blockbuster across the street. Got Sofia with you, Big Case? It's his favorite sniper rifle."

Casey grunted partly out of frustration and partly out of admiration. The nerd knew his arsenal all too well. Sarah kept hidden out of sight, ready to activate the removal program.

"But there's a little problem…Daniel," Chuck continued, his voice dripping nothing but contempt as Shaw's name. "I recently hacked into the CIA database and uncovered a couple of interesting files Langston Graham kept hidden, such as Sarah's Red Test in 2005. She's looking for this woman, I'm sure you know who, and this woman is ready to kill her. Sarah turns, fires, puts a bullet in her.

Chuck slowly walks up to Shaw, whose stoic façade was beginning to crack. "Your wife, correct? Isn't that why you're really here? You don't care about me; you want revenge against the woman who killed your wife."

Sarah gasped behind the door, having heard everything Chuck said. She never realized before now she had killed Shaw's wife. She knew she shot in self-defense. It was a day she didn't want to remember, but she was certain Evelyn was reaching for a weapon. Something clicked in her mind and it all made sense now. She mentally berated herself for falling for this bastard's tricks. Everything she said and did to Chuck while she was with this piece of wood made her cringe.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Shaw said trying to maintain the façade, but Chuck was picking away at the carefully practiced act.

"Come on, Shaw. There's no use in trying to keep up this bullshit act. Sarah killed Evelyn and you want revenge. It's that simple. Only…it isn't, is it. How did you find out about Sarah? You, Daniel Shaw, are a mole for The Ring."

Chuck reached into his pocket and pulled out a series of pictures. "Remember when you disappeared for three weeks last year? Not long after that, you found your way to Burbank?" Chuck held up one of the pictures, showing Shaw talking to a Ring agent. "I was able to hack into the surveillance cameras inside the Ring's computer system not too long ago. I just started flashing on people left and right."

Chuck playfully tossed the pictures at Shaw one-by-one. "You were a busy little boy. It took them a while to convince you, but then the Director showed you the actual footage, and that's all it took."

Chuck threw the final picture at Shaw, which showed Shaw talking with the Ring director. His slimeball of a face contorted into an angry visage. Chuck scoffed at Shaw's reaction to being played, slipping off his own shades to reveal his bright violet eyes. Shaw stepped back in shock at seeing the demon-like stare from Chuck.

"And where is my fair haired angel?" Chuck said as he looked around, his anger rising quickly. "I know you're here Sarah, and I know you've heard everything. How does it now that you treated me like a complete piece of crap when you were off in D.C. doing God knows what with this traitorous prick because I wasn't that same meek, scared Nerd Herder you thought you could manipulate?"

Tears started forming in Sarah's pristine blue eyes. She was overwhelmed with guilt.

"I'm no saint. I'll admit it. I, too, acted like a complete moron with Hannah, but you should know I didn't leave you in Prague. I wanted to be with you, but I went with Beckman to be a spy for you and the people we love. I thought I was doing what it took so we could be together. I even completed my Red Test because you said we couldn't be together if I wasn't a spy. Then you rejected me for it! You went off with this stiff-assed mannequin, probably to just play with him until you found your next boy toy!"

Chuck slumped against the wall. "But you know what? I still love you. I want to hate you, but I can't. I've always loved you, and I always will."

Sarah's face was red and tears continued to stream down her cheeks. "I love you too, Chuck. I've always loved you," she sobbed.

"Enough!" Shaw's detached appearance was completely gone and was replaced with a primal rage. "I hope you enjoyed your little speech, because those are the last words you'll ever speak," Shaw spat as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his Ring Intersect activating.

Chuck raised an eyebrow in interest. "Gee, that's…cool," he deadpanned. "The Ring gave you a little toy to play with."

Shaw launched himself at Chuck, who began to have a flash of his own. Shaw tried to connect with a roundhouse, only to have Chuck duck out of the way and send his foot into Shaw's solar plexus, making him double over.

"Boy, I hope that's not the best the Ring's Intersect can do," Chuck said derisively. "I was hoping for more of a fight from you."

Shaw spun and snaked out his foot to trip Chuck, but Chuck leaped over it and sent a hard palm strike to Shaw's face. Shaw tried to throw one of his own, only to have Chuck catch his wrist and flip him to the ground. Shaw bounced up and sent a roundhouse kick at Chuck, which knocked him to the ground. Shaw pounced on top of Chuck with a guttural scream, attempting to land punch after punch on Chuck. Chuck pushed off with his feet to flip Shaw off of him. He then planted both feet into Shaw's chest, sending him flying into the wall. Chuck leaped to his feet as Shaw bounced off of the wall and into Chuck's shoe. He howled in pain as his ribs were broken by Chuck.

"Pathetic display, Shaw. And all because your wife was going to kill Sarah? She was just defending herself. Graham was convinced she was a double-agent. Are you so sure she wasn't?"

Shaw screamed as he mounted another attack at Chuck, who spun in the air and nailed Shaw in his shoulder, breaking his clavicle. Shaw fell to the ground in extreme pain.

Sarah took this chance to activate the cure program. Suddenly images filled the walls, startling Chuck and freezing him in place.

_A smiling Baby in her mother's arms_

_A puppy playing with a kitten_

_A ballet dancer performing the nutcracker_

_Chuck and Sarah dancing in Ellie´s wedding having joyous smiles on their faces_

_Steve and Mary with a toddler Ellie and a certain curly haired smiling baby_

The images ceased and Chuck fell to the ground. Sarah ran into the room and turned Chuck over. His eyes were glazed over, but the violet color faded into Chuck's normal chocolate brown color before he lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>Shaw woke up to find his surroundings different. He was in a desert somewhere. He tried to move, only to find he was tied up.<p>

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Shaw," a voice not attached to any person droned in a business-like tone. "You have failed us for the last time."

Shaw turned his head to see a large, hulking man standing over him. Over the man's left shoulder was a woodchipping machine.

"What the hell is going here?" he said

"You penance for failing us," said the voice. "Brutus…"

The large man lifted Shaw by the rope which tied him up and slung him over his shoulder. He walked over to the woodchipper and turned on the motor.

"Goodbye, Agent Shaw," said the detached voice.

Brutus threw Shaw into the woodchipper. The former Ring mole screamed in agony, his cries eventually drowned out by the chilling sound of bone and flesh being ground to dust.

* * *

><p>Chuck groaned like he had been through an alcohol fueled night and run over by a rhino. He opened his eyes slowly to see an angel looking at him with loving eyes. Sarah had woken up twenty minutes ago and wanted to just lay there, gazing at the man she loved since the day she walked into the Buy More.<p>

"Good morning," she said softly, relieved to have her Chuck back from that horrendous nightmare of the defective Intersect.

Suddenly Chuck bolted up in the bed as a horrified look washed over him. "Oh, God. Sarah, I remember. I remember everything. Oh, God. I am so sorry…"

"Shh…it's okay, it wasn't your fault," Sarah replied, putting a gentle hand on his shoulders

"No! It's not okay! I remember everything I did, everything I said. I said horrible things to you guys."

She cradled his face in her hands. "Some of those things were true, Chuck. I treated you shamefully after your Red Test. I know I said you had to pass it for us to be together, but to actually witness you kill Hunter Perry, it was too much for me to handle. But then Casey told me he shot Perry, not you.

"Casey. How is he?" he asked remorsefully.

"He's healing. He knows it wasn't your fault. He knows you wouldn't really do that."

"Sarah, I'm so sorry about what happened. But I was being sincere when I said I loved you. God, I've been in love with you since the day I met you, but I know you can't have that in your life because it would compromise you, and I would never want to do anything to harm you…"

"Chuck?"

He stared into her beautiful blue eyes as she stared back adoringly at her nerd.

"Yes?" he whispered.

"Shut up and kiss me."

And so he did. Sarah felt the warmth of his embrace as their lips met; the pronunciation of what both of them had been feeling for three years. Sarah pushed him down onto the bed as their kisses increased in passion. For that moment, there was no Intersect, no CIA, no missions, and no danger. It was simply…them. And it was where both of them wanted to be forever.

* * *

><p>Diane Beckman sat in a small café near campus waiting for Dinah to arrive. The last few weeks gave her some new perspective regarding her job. Although she had served her country faithfully for decades and never questioned the reasons she did what she did, seeing Chuck Bartowski morph into a virtual unknown gave her considerable pause. Despite what the dark Intersect had done to him, Chuck never truly stopped being the man everyone liked and adored; someone who could do such amazing things and yet still retain what made him that person in the first place. Certainly he won over the heart of someone who used to be the CIA's coldest agent in Sarah Walker. But what he did with Dinah…and more importantly, didn't do to her…made her rethink her priorities.<p>

"Hey, Mom!" Dinah happily chirped as she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck from behind.

"How's school?" Beckman asked her pride and joy as both of them sat down.

"Classes are fine. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep in the last few days. There was some flooding in the dorm. Apparently some jackass decided it would be funny to clog the toilets."

Beckman smiled, looking lovingly at her little girl. But she was here to tell her the whole truth.

"This guy named Carmichael came by a few days ago," Dinah continued. "He said he worked for you. He was really sweet."

"That was Chuck. He does work for me. Actually, it's because of him that I'm here today. I have to tell you something, something I should have told you a long time ago. It's about your father."

"My father? I thought you said he died in 1990."

"No he's not. He's very much alive, but he doesn't know about you. But I'm here to tell you about him, if you want me to. I'll even take you to meet him."

Dinah sat in silence for a few moments. "Why didn't you tell me about him? Was he a horrible person?"

Beckman shook her head with a smile. "Far from it."

Dinah leaned forward in interest as Beckman told her the story of Roan Montgomery.

**THE END**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **And that´s a wrap folks, it was fun writing this story. I´d like to thank all who reviewed and my beta PJ Murphy for his awesome betaing and making this dribble into something readable.**  
><strong>


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